Hi, My girlfriend and I are about to embark on working holiday for one year in Australia. Our first stop is Sydney and although I'm looking on realestate.com.au and domain.com.au we really have no idea which area to rent an apartment in. We're looking for a small one bedroom or studio apartment anywhere with easy access to public transportation. What areas are reasonably safe and still cheap? like safe enough for a little pretty girl to walk home at night with no worries.
Also I've heard a few horror stories on other forums about competition for renting apartments, but it wasn't really clear if that happened everywhere or just the higher end areas.
thanks in advance, any and all insight is appreciated.
boyd.
Young couple on working holiday.
1
4
Hiya Boyd
The competition for apartments is for the lower end of the market - I'd say that if you're looking under $450 per week, that's when you're going to start getting alot of people viewing. Only advice I can give you is to bring references with you from ex-landlords. If you can, bring character references with you too. The more information you give the agent, the better your chances. When you're view an apartment that you like, try and engage the agent in conversation so they remember you - don't talk about yourself but ask questions about the area, safety, transport, shopping. Be positive, friendly and dress smartish - no torn jeans, "bed" hair or bare feet. You want the agent to know that you're going to be a responsible, reliable tenant. You're going to have to work pretty hard to convince the agents that you're not going to pull out of a lease early to go traveling. Always keep the agent's aims in mind so that you make a good impression. Remember that the agent has no vested interest in doing you a "favour" or helping you out. Their only priority is to rent out their client's property to the most solid tenant possible for the most amount of money possible. With this in mind, you should be able to come up with a good strategy to get the apartment you want.
Good luck! And enjoy your working holiday!
Mandy
11
Eastern suburbs are nice places 
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